Candice Dupree is rapidly becoming the face of the expansion Chicago Sky. And Seimone Augustus is threatening to turn the normally tame Minnesota Lynx into lions.

The Baton Rouge, La., product who carried LSU to the Final Four the past three seasons, faces the Comets today at Toyota Center.

"First off, I definitely think there's going to be a WNBA at 20," Comets assistant Kevin Cook said Saturday. "It's been nice for the first 10 years. But the influx of new players, as we see our original players beginning to dwindle and retire, it's up to the newcomers to now carry the torch.

"And the veterans are passing that torch very gracefully. The newcomers — like Taurasi, Beard and the others — these are the type of performers who are really coming on strong."

Beard, Taurasi lead way

Beard, the former Duke All-American who is in her second season with the
Washington Mystics
, leads the WNBA in 3-point percentage.

Taurasi, the beacon for Connecticut's impressive run of three straight national championships, led the league in scoring until Augustus went on a tear last week and took the top spot.

Augustus, the top pick in this year's draft, scored 12 of her career-high 31 points in the fourth quarter of Friday's 92-87 victory over Indiana.

"All of those kinds of players are making this league young," Comets coach Van Chancellor said. "(Baylor's Sophia Young) played well for San Antonio (Friday night); they're all playing well."

Chancellor said there are no special plans to try to contain Augustus.

"You know, there are some players, in my opinion, that you can do very little to stop," he said. "You just hope she doesn't have one of those unbelievable nights. You hope she has a good night, but not a great night. You're not going to keep her from scoring, I believe that with all my heart."

"I think when you talk about a Sheryl, a Lisa, a Cynthia Cooper, they're great players who are just going to stand the test of time and never be replaced," Cook said.

More talent on the way

"I think we're going to see our own Diana Taurasi, our own (Alana) Beard, our own Seimone Augustus," Cook said. "And it goes on further down the line. Candace Parker's game is going to stand alone.

"(Oklahoma center) Courtney Paris' game is going to stand; (so is Tasha) Humphrey at Georgia. Their games are going to speak for themselves. And Cynthia, Sheryl, Tina (Thompson), Lisa Leslie, the greatness in them will always be there, just like it's there for the great home run hitters."

And just like no one has replaced Babe Ruth or Henry Aaron, the WNBA's first line of stars will be hard to duplicate, Cook said.

"To answer the question, no, they can't be replaced," he said. "Just like Michael Jordan can't be replaced. But we see the advent of a LeBron James. It's carried on like Michael carried on when Larry (Bird) and Magic (Johnson) left."

Dupree is the leading scorer and second-leading rebounder for the Sky, who lost to the Comets 71-60 on Friday.

Dupree said she doesn't think about the burden she, Beard, Taurasi and the rest of the young stars now carry.

"I'd like to still be playing 10 years from now. Hopefully, the league will still be around then," Dupree said. "But it's not something I usually think about a lot."

Thompson, the first college player drafted into the WNBA in 1997, said the league — from the standpoint of solid young talent — has a bright future.

No fear of what's next

"I think you could even go as far back as
Tamika Catchings
,
Chamique Holdsclaw
, Swin Cash, Taurasi," Thompson said. "Whenever it's my time to go, I think the league is in good hands. You can look toward the future and players like Candace Parker, she's an unbelievable talent.